Brussels, 04/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - The G7 summit in Brussels on Wednesday 4 June took a firm line on Ukraine and energy vis-à-vis Russia without closing the door on the powerful trading nation that is crucial for major economic and international issues.
At the start of the summit, the EU said it was prepared to sign an EU-Ukraine Association Agreement by 27 June, before a coordination meeting about aid to Ukraine in early July. President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy announced that the remainder of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, including a free-trade deal, would be signed on the fringes of the European summit of 27 June at the latest. He said he would be travelling to Kiev on Saturday 7 June for the signing in of the new Ukrainian president, Petro Porochenko.
The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said that, in order to deal with a growing need for international coordination, a platform of international donors to Ukraine was being set up, headed by the EU and, if the Ukrainian government were to introduce a reform coordination mechanism shortly, then the EU would be prepared to organised a high-level international coordination meeting in Brussels in early July ahead of an international donor conference before the end of the year.
Energy. Barroso said that for energy security in the EU and Ukraine: “We agree that energy should not be used as a political weapon and the G7 summit should be firm and encourage Russia to lay down this weapon.' In the EU-Russia-Ukraine talks on the Russia-Ukraine gas dispute, Barroso said the Commission was doing all it can to facilitate a fair agreement and find an agreement on the payment of outstanding Ukrainian bills, a fair price for Russian gas for Ukraine and an updating of the Ukrainian gas pipeline system, urging both sides to make the necessary final efforts to the benefit of the political climate in the region.
For energy security more broadly, Barroso said the Ukrainian crisis had shown that it was in the interest of all G7 nations to move towards a low-carbon economy that is competitive and supplies with secure energy, and he urged the G7 leaders to endorse the ideas and immediate action recommended by their energy ministers at their meeting in Rome in May. The G7 energy summit suggested adding to the Commission's efforts and develop emergency plans for the winter of 2014-2015 at regional level and also to exchange best practice for the assessment of energy insecurity. In this connection, the AIE is preparing options for individual and collective G7 action in the field of gas supply and providing technical assistance to Ukraine (see EUROPE 11073).
Europeans at the G7 summit were delighted not to have fingers pointed at them because of financial and debt problems and the threats to the euro in the past. They stressed that Europe returned to growth in the second quarter of 2013. “The EU has returned to positive growth since the second quarter of 2013. The recovery is proceeding this year and is expected to continue next year with up to 2% in the European Union on average. This brighter outlook also holds true for the more vulnerable euro zone countries. There are encouraging signs of growing numbers of people in jobs - and 1.6 million fewer people without a job between 2013 and 2015. Still, the overall unemployment remains far too high”, said Van Rompuy.
Trade. Barroso said the G7 summit should make it crystal clear that international trade is key to the EU's strategy for world growth and the EU remains committed to opening up markets and further liberalising trade, as demonstrated by the EU's commitments for the post-Bali talks at the World Trade Organisation and the bilateral trade talks with G7 partners. The EU is in the process of negotiating a free-trade deal with Japan (since March 2013) and the United States (TTIP talks began in July 2013). The deal reached with Canada in October 2013 requires some technical fine-tuning.
Climate change. Barroso said 2015 would be a crucial year for tackling climate change and: “The G7 should leave no doubt. We want a binding, robust comprehensive agreement” for the United Nations COP 21 conference in Paris in 2015, where national pledges also need to be made Barroso said the EU wants a legally binding agreement.
Development. The EU expects the G7 to confirm its development pledges, said Barroso. He said the fight against extreme poverty and in favour of sustainable development were questions of international solidarity, and said the European Commission had recently published its contribution so the EU can fine-tune its negotiating mandate for the UN talks on sustainable development targets to replace the Millennium Targets in the post-2015 period (see EUROPE 11092). (MB/AN/EH/CG)